Serving a Beer Snob

[IrregularPulse]

I have never even heard of this! Is this common where you live?

I've heard it mentioned several times on this board, and sometimes I "think" i taste it. It could just be dirty lines, but I could also associate the taste with the beer I ordered being mixed with a cheaper BMC.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

If someone tried pulling that crap is WI, they would be a dead man walking. Don't mess with our beer.

 

[remilard]

Yea, Dortmunder is a fairly obscure light lager style. There are a few breweries that make it here in the US, but Great Lakes (a fairly big brewery in Cleveland) is the only one that actually labels it "Dortmunder". I believe Bell's Lager is also a Dortmunder.

We've misappropriated the word. It really just means a beer from Dortmund, the vast majority of which are not in the Export style. The BJCP guide lists only two beers from Dortmund as "Dortmunder Export" and neither are available in the US (although people are confused and think that the lighter beers that are made by the same breweries and available here are Export beers).

 

[motobrewer]

If someone tried pulling that crap is WI, they would be a dead man walking. Don't mess with our beer.

yeah, you'd get your a$$ kicked pretty freakin' hard if a bartender tried to do that here.

 

[Julohan]

I'm fortunate to live in northern Colorado, so I just ask for "local" beers. Granted, that includes Coors, but it shortens the list considerably.

Would anyone tell you beers owned by coors? That could broaden the list a lot more.

 

[GearBeer]

Frequent brewpubs and microbreweries exclusively, then you won't have this problem.

 

[kornkob]

yeah, you'd get your a$$ kicked pretty freakin' hard if a bartender tried to do that here.

It also seems like a big fat waste of time. The amount of money 'saved' through this practice is probably going to be wasted in the labor of making the mix and loss of business.


I'd lay odds that the 'mix taste' is a combination of poorly maintained lines/tap head and low volume resulting in 'old' beer (probably with a dash of 'extra keg stored in a variable temp environment' effect).

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I never considered myself a beer snob until I pinpointed both low levels of diacetyl and a hint of infection in a few sample beers poured at a local resturant. when i complained about the taste the manager came over to assure me that the beers tasted as they were intended to. After some polite discussion about the styles and some reccomendations on what to look for in the draft system he parted ways and refunded my beers.

Before dinner was done he came back to tell me he in fact found beer copious amounts of beer stone in several lines and had also talked to the brewer only to be advised that they, in fact, had been having some diacetyl reduction issues at the time.

The manager bought our dinner (Me, Wife, and Son) and now knows me by name.

 

[EMPyre]

If you actually know enough to really be a beer snob, you should assume you know more than the server about your tastes and just be courteous to the server or bar keep. If you really need to tell people how awesome you are, you probably aren't that awesome.

This ^.

Also I like to ask if they have anything 'local'. Or asking directly what Micros are on tap is a good way of skipping the BMC usual suspects list.

Finally I think we have all thought of this particular customer in the wrong terms. We assigned him the snob catagory that we all fall into, that is open and willing to enjoy beer. Instead perhaps his snobbery is the type that only drinks one particular beer and thus his taste is very specific and snobbish. This would fit even if he only drinks BMC. I know someone who I certainly think of as beer snob because he refuses to drink anything other than Bud Lite, because 'it all tastes like grass'. That is a VERY closed and snobby opinion by my standards...

 

[SFBEER]

I don't expect to find much more than the standard Canadian big boys when I go out. If there is something that I haven't heard of or had in a while I'll give it a try. I'm not that much of a snob that I won't have a beer. I choose the best of the worst.

 

[alcibiades]

SWMBO called me an "*******" after I told the hostess at a "taphouse" we will be going somewhere else to eat because their beer menu wasn't good enough. I used a non-******* tone! I thought I was just being honest.

 

[StunnedMonkey]

SWMBO called me an "*******" after I told the hostess at a "taphouse" we will be going somewhere else to eat because their beer menu wasn't good enough. I used a non-******* tone! I thought I was just being honest.

Once again, a shout out to my wife for being that "*******." When we were dating (many years ago) we frequented a nice downtown restaurant that had Whitbread Ale on draft. That was really something back then. We'd head there every Friday after work for Whitbread and happy hour grub, sometimes staying for dinner. Then we went there for our 1st anniversary only to discover that they'd replaced the Whitbread with Bud Ice, which had just come out. My wife had no problem telling them we were out of there, and why.

They won't know if you don't tell them.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Off topic, but if any of you are ever around Downtown Disney (between Disneyland & California Adventure....), stop by the Uva Bar. Seems in the last year since I was there, there's been a "considerable" change in management, and said management has now stocked the place with an astronomical international beer selection. All I can honestly remember is Chimay Blue and several French & Belgian varieties that I can't for the moment recollect (some porters, some lambic, etc.). And the staff was well-versed on what they were serving. Definitely made my b-day at the D-land much more memorable (or....not...).

 

[Zen_Brew]

Off topic, but if any of you are ever around Downtown Disney (between Disneyland & California Adventure....), stop by the Uva Bar. Seems in the last year since I was there, there's been a "considerable" change in management, and said management has now stocked the place with an astronomical international beer selection. All I can honestly remember is Chimay Blue and several French & Belgian varieties that I can't for the moment recollect (some porters, some lambic, etc.). And the staff was well-versed on what they were serving. Definitely made my b-day at the D-land much more memorable (or....not...).

That's what friends are for. To go out with and have a good time. When you really have a good time, they are there to tell you all about it the next day, usually with unwanted photographic evidence.

 

[gallagherman]

SWMBO called me an "*******" after I told the hostess at a "taphouse" we will be going somewhere else to eat because their beer menu wasn't good enough. I used a non-******* tone! I thought I was just being honest.

SWMBO called me a "duche" when the server brought me a bohemian pilsener in the correct pilsener glass, and I quickly stated as he placed it in front of me "Ah, proper glassware thanks!". I guess a "Thank you" would have sufficed. This was a proper beer establishment, Roadhouse in Brookline MA, so I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. Part of me wanted to show off to the server that I knew this was the correct presentation. Don't know why, but sometimes I want to run to the top of a mountain and shout about my beer geekdom!

 

[Domminigan]

SWMBO called me a "duche" ...
Don't know why, but sometimes I want to run to the top of a mountain and shout about my beer geekdom!

That would be your douchiness showing.

 

[gallagherman]

That would be your douchiness showing.

I thought duche was a bit harsh. How bout "huge loser" instead?

 

[Domminigan]

I see where you are going with that, but only your SWMBO would know the hugeness of your situation.

 

[lamarguy]

I never considered myself a beer snob until I pinpointed both low levels of diacetyl and a hint of infection in a few sample beers poured at a local resturant.

Ah yes, the quintessential OKC beer drinking experience. Done it, loved it, bought the buttery/infected t-shirt!

 

[shek]

Off topic, but if any of you are ever around Downtown Disney (between Disneyland & California Adventure....), stop by the Uva Bar. Seems in the last year since I was there, there's been a "considerable" change in management, and said management has now stocked the place with an astronomical international beer selection. All I can honestly remember is Chimay Blue and several French & Belgian varieties that I can't for the moment recollect (some porters, some lambic, etc.). And the staff was well-versed on what they were serving. Definitely made my b-day at the D-land much more memorable (or....not...).

I noticed that when I went to d-land a few weeks ago. I was in a rush though so I didn't have time to stop for a beer, but I noticed the significant change in beer selection as I walked by. I'm definitely gonna give it a whirl the next time the SWMBO is trying to convince me to go to d-land. The only time I've been to the Uva bar is when I saw DKM twice in one night at the HoB. I met some people at the first show who were also going to the second show, and I had an extra tick for the second show that I gave them a good deal on for one of their last minute friends that was on the way. So they just kept feeding me beers and scotch at Uva while we waited for HoB to reopen for the second show.

 

[northernlad]

SWMBO called me an "*******" after I told the hostess at a "taphouse" we will be going somewhere else to eat because their beer menu wasn't good enough. I used a non-******* tone! I thought I was just being honest.

Whether or not you displayed ******* behavior depends on
1) You were going out for dinner (*******) or
2) You were out for drinks (not *******)

I worked at a restaurant that opened before we got our liquor license. Quite a few *********s left because we did not have booze.
This is exactly like leaving a restaurant because they don't have a smoking section. Seriously? You can't sit down for 55 fecking minutes to enjoy a meal without a smoke?

 

[Scimmia]

Whether or not you displayed ******* behavior depends on
1) You were going out for dinner (*******) or
2) You were out for drinks (not *******)

I worked at a restaurant that opened before we got our liquor license. Quite a few *********s left because we did not have booze.
This is exactly like leaving a restaurant because they don't have a smoking section. Seriously? You can't sit down for 55 fecking minutes to enjoy a meal without a smoke?

I don't see either as being an *******. You can choose to eat wherever you'd like, however you'd like. If the establishment doesn't do things the way you like, you don't go there. Seems like a simple concept to me. If you want a good beer with dinner, don't go to a restaurant that doesn't have good beer. Same way with smoking, it's not that they can't eat without having a smoke, it's that they'd prefer to have a smoke after dinner, so they're making their choice.

 

[kornkob]

I don't see either as being an *******. You can choose to eat wherever you'd like, however you'd like. If the establishment doesn't do things the way you like, you don't go there. Seems like a simple concept to me. If you want a good beer with dinner, don't go to a restaurant that doesn't have good beer. Same way with smoking, it's not that they can't eat without having a smoke, it's that they'd prefer to have a smoke after dinner, so they're making their choice.

+1

Telling a business 'I require these things of you to enjoy your services at the price you charge' is appropriate. What kind of ******* runs a restaurant where they expect that their customers would suffer through a less than satisfying experience rather than go down the street to the place that meets their expectations?

 

[northernlad]

Perhaps my original statement was more for effect than accuracy, but I personally don't have enough time in my life to make sure an operator has taken me into consideration before he opened his doors and I always found it ultra irritating when a guest woud make a scene about one petty thing or another.
Could be why I don't work in restaurants anymore. The customer isn't always right, you just can't tell him so.

+1

What kind of ******* runs a restaurant where they expect that their customers would suffer through a less than satisfying experience rather than go down the street to the place that meets their expectations?

The kind that understands he can never meet any guests expectations 100% but still has to deal with those who demand it.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

I don't see either as being an *******. You can choose to eat wherever you'd like, however you'd like. If the establishment doesn't do things the way you like, you don't go there. Seems like a simple concept to me. If you want a good beer with dinner, don't go to a restaurant that doesn't have good beer. Same way with smoking, it's not that they can't eat without having a smoke, it's that they'd prefer to have a smoke after dinner, so they're making their choice.

I agree, particularly when it comes to drinks. I enjoy having a beer with dinner. It makes dinner all around better provided I have a beer that goes with what I'm eating. If I'm in a particular mood to have a beer for dinner, and go to a restaurant that doesn't have a decent enough selection then I might leave, and I'd let someone who works there know. Especially if they call themselves a taproom and there's only BMC. I'd feel sorta cheated if that was the case; "taproom" implies to me that there's a wide variety of beer available.

 

[maskednegator]

Perhaps my original statement was more for effect than accuracy, but I personally don't have enough time in my life to make sure an operator has taken me into consideration before he opened his doors and I always found it ultra irritating when a guest woud make a scene about one petty thing or another.
Could be why I don't work in restaurants anymore. The customer isn't always right, you just can't tell him so.



The kind that understands he can never meet any guests expectations 100% but still has to deal with those who demand it.

Bro, your employer is not entitled to my cash. If he doesn't provide an experience at that price that he charges, I'm definitely going somewhere else.

 

[Julohan]

Yeah, waiting tables sucks. Its good money and is able to work around school, which is nice. But, dealing with the people are annoying. Some people just walk in the door already pissed. Some people are just never going to be pleased no matter how well you do.

 

[kornkob]

The kind that understands he can never meet any guests expectations 100% but still has to deal with those who demand it.

In which case, the operator is the ********* .

While you can't make every customer happy, deciding that everyone who leaves because they want more service than you are able to provide is an ********* is evidence of a backwards attitude.

A customer who wants to drink or smoke or watch TV or read a newspaper or surf the net or whatever while they eat drink or otherwise partake of the services offered who doesn't get offered their preferred option isn't an *******, even if they tell you that is why they are leaving.

The ********* is the person who mumbles about the customer when they leave.


The service oriented person looks at it either as a missed opportunity (Gee-- maybe we should have gotten that liquor license thing worked out) or simply a mismatched business transaction (Service being offered didn't meet the needs of the consumer).

A wise GM once said to me, "The customer is always right but not everyone is our customer."




(Incidentally, I'm assuming that your statement is incorrectly stated: the idea that you can NEVER meet a guests expectations 100% is flatly false unless you aren't' even trying.)

 

[MeatyPortion]

Plus juan on telling the restaurant why you're leaving. You don't have to be a ******** about it, just be polite. If they get enough of that kind of response then they'll change.

 

[northernlad]

I just realized I am a customer snob in a beer snob world.